Water-wheel



]. KING.

WATER WHEEL.

I ED AUG-30, I920- Patented Oct. 4, 1921..

3 SHEETS-SHEET l- J. KING.

WATER WHEEL. I 1,392,893. APPLICATION FILED AUGv-30,1920. 4 A q 3SHEETS-SHEET 2.

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N N A g IQ lwuemtoz 1. KING.

WATER WHEEL.

APPLICATION FILED AUG-30, 1920.

Patented Oct. 4,1921.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

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v 'J'OI-IN KING, OF WILLIAMS LAKE, BRITISH COLUMBIA, CANADA.

' WATER-WHEEL.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 4., 1921.

Application filed August 30, 1920. Serial No. 406,810.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, JOHN KING, a citizen ofthe United States, residing at Williams Lake, British Columbia, Canada,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in \Vat-ei Wheels; andI do hereby de- Clare the following to be a full, clear, and exactdescription of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in theart to which it appertains to make and use the same.

, This invention relates to water wheels. and aims to provide a powerapparatus of that character comprising a novel and improvedconstruction.

'One of the objects is the provision of a water wheel rotating about avertical or substantially vertical axis.

Another object is the provision of a water wheel of that character whoseblades are movable vertically, with novel means for mounting the bladesand for lowering them into the water and raising them out of the waterat the proper time.

A further object is the provision of supplementary or extension bladesfor the main blades, and novel meansfor mounting said supplementaryblades from the main ones to enable the supplementary blades to fold orswing back when raised out of the water.

lVith the foregoing and other objects in view, which will be apparent asthe description proceeds, the invention resides inthe 7 construction andarrangement of parts hereinafter described and claimed, it beingunderstood that changes'can be made within the scope of what is claimedwithout departing from the spirit of the invention.

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, where n:

Figure 1 1s a plan view of the improved water wheel, portions beingbroken away.

Fig. 2 is a diametrical section thereof, portions being broken away andportions shown in elevation. I

' Fig. 8 is a vertical section of one of the standards for the bladearms.

Fig. 4 is a plan view showing a pair of blades with the supplementaryblade swung back. i

Fig. 5 is an elevation showing a pair of blades as when in the water.

In carrying out the invention, a vertical or substantially verticalshaft 10 is mounted. on a float or foundation 11 disposed in the streamat any suitable point thereof, and the lower end of the shaft 10 isjournaled in a step bearing 12 secured on the float 11. A wheel 13 issecured to the shaft near the lower end thereof, and has an annularseries of gear teeth 14; meshing with a pinion 15 secured on ahorizontalshaft 16 journaled in bearings 17 mounted on the float 11,-whereby totransmit the motion from the shaft 10 and wheel 13 to the shaft 16. Thisshaft preferably has a clutch 18 for opening and closing the connectionbetween the water wheel and a pump or other machine operated by saidwheel.

The wheel 14 is maintained in its plane of rotation by means of rollers19 above and below the rim or marginal flange of said wheel 13, andcarriedby brackets 20 secured on the float 11. This will prevent theshaft 10 and wheel 13 from tilting, and will enable the water wheelto-rotate freely about the axis of said shaft.

Vertically spaced hubs 21 are secured on the shaft 10, by means of setscrews 21' or the like, which permit said hubs or disks to be adjustedvertically, and radial arms 22 having the blades 23 at their outer ends,are hinged at their inner ends to the hubs 21. As shown, there are threehubs 21 and several sets of arms 22 and blades 23, with three in eachset, and the blades 23 of eachset are spaced vertically to be submergedin the water to different depths, as seen in Fig. 2, with the bladesdisposed in different vertically planes radially of the wheel. The arms22 being hinged to the hubs 21 can swing vertically for raising andlowering the blades, and rollers 24 are mounted in brackets 25 securedto the arms 22 to travel on an arcuate track 26 mounted on the float 11,with the end portions of the track sloping downwardlyl/Vhen the arms 22are between the ends of the track 26 at one side of the float 11, saidarms can swing downwardly to submerge the blades 23, whereby the currentwill move said blades (in the direction of the arrow in Fig. l) torotate the wheel, and as the rollers 24 contact with the correspondingend of the track and roll onto same, the arms 22 will be raised toelevate the blades out of the water.

In order to limit the depth to which the blades are submerged in thewater, slotted and are stepped or offset as seen in Fig. 3, so that thearms 22 of each set pass through the corresponding standard. Thesestandards guide the arms 22 for vertical movement, and carry stops 28for limiting the downward movement of the arms when the blades aresubmerged. The stops 28, .as shown, are inserted in apertures 29 in thestandard, and can be adjusted vertically, to regulate the )osition ofthe blades 23 when submerged. he hubs 21 can also be adjustedvertically, to re ulate the positions of the arms 22 when submerged andraised, so that adjustments can be'made to suit the conditions byadjusting the hubs 21 on the shaft 10 and adjusting the stops 29 on thestandards 27.

In order to takeup the strains from'the arms 22, inclined arms 30 arehinged to a hub or disk 31 secured on the shaft 10 be low'the hubs 21and above the wheel 13, and the upper free ends of said arms 30 areconnected by a chain 32 or other flexible element, and said chain 32 andarms 30 are connected by stay chains 33 to the wheel 13. The chain 32 isconnected by stay chains 34 with the arms 22, whereby the pressureagainst the blades or addles 23 is transmitted partially to the chains34 and 33, thereby preventing said arms from bending or breaking. Saidchains enable the arms 22 to swing upwardly without interference, andthe arms 30 can also swing upwardly if necessary. 7 r i In order toincrease the power, supplementary or extension blades 35 are used, beinghinged to the outer ends of the arms 22 and blades 23, as at 36, so thatthe blades 35 can swing rearwardly into folded position, as seen in Fig.4. brace 37 is hinged at one end to each blade 35, as at 33, and ispivotally connected at its other end to a slide 39 movable along a bar40 secured to the corresponding blade 23in rear thereof. Thus, when theblade 35 swings rearwardly in being raised out of the water, itpushesthe brace 37 so that the slide 39 slides inwardly on the bar l0, andwhen the blades enter the water, the pressure of the water against theblade 35 will swing same forwardly into alinement with the blade 23,thereby pullin the brace 37' and slide 39 until the slide 39 strikes theouter end of the bar 40, thereby limiting the movement of the blade 35.

It is preferable to provide a float 41 on the upper edge of each blade35, having sufiici'ent buoyancy to counterbalance the weight of theblade 35, thereby avoiding abnormal strain by gravity on the arms 22when the blades 35 are extended and sub-' merged in the water.

In operation, the rollers 24; in riding on the track 26 will support thearms 22 in raised position, and as they move off of the track, the armswill swing downwardly by oravity, thereby lowering the blades into thewater vertically. The blades are thus submerged at one side, and thecurrent of the water will thereby rotate the wheel, and as the bladescomplete an arc of movement in the water, they are raised out of thewater again by the contact of the rollers 2lwith the opposite end of thetrack 26. As the blades 23 are raised out of the water, thesupplementary or extension blades 35 swing back, and when the bladesenterthe water again, the blades 35 are swung into operative position bythe pressure of the water against same. The blades 35 being swunginwardly when raised, will lessen the strain on the arms 22 and otherparts of the wheel owmg to leverage. The power derived from the wheelcan be used for operatin a pump or other machine." (Not shown). i f

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new is 1. Awater wheel comprising a substantially verticalshaft,vertically-spacedsets of carried by said arms, and an arcuate track for raising said armswhen moved thereover.

4. A water wheel comprising a substantially vertical shaft, armshingedly connected thereto. blades carried by said arms, means forlimiting the downward movement of said arms to allow; the blades tosubmerge to different depths in the water, and means for raising saidarms to lift the blades out of the water through part of their rotarymovement.

5. A water wheel'comprising a substantially vertical shaft, a wheelsecured onsaid shaft, vertically spacedysets of a-rms hingedly connectedwith said shaft, bl-ades car ried by said arms,'an arcuate track forraising said arms whenlmoved thereon, guide standards for said .farmscarried by said wheel, and adjustable means carriedby; said standardsfor limiting the downward movement of said armsof the several sets.

6. A water wheel comprising a substanable means for limiting thedownward movement of said arms, and means for raising said arms througha part of their rotary movement.

7. A water wheel comprising a substantially vertical shaft, a wheelsecured thereon, means for maintaining said wheel in its plane ofrotation, arms hingedly connected to said shaft, blades carried by saidarms, other arms hingedly connected to the shaft, flexible elementsconnecting the second named arms with one another and with said wheel,flexible elements connecting the aforesaid fiexible elements and firstnamed arms to take up the strain from said arms, and means for raisingthe first named arms through a shaft.

8. A water wheel having blades, mentary blades hingedly connected with,bars carried by the first named blade, slides movable on said bars, andbraces hingedly connected to the supplementary blades and slides tolimit the movement of the supplementary blades.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in thepresence of two subscribing Witnesses.

JOHN KING.

part of their movement with said supplethere- Witnesses:

PERCY P. BRUSH, BURNS Con.

